African Women’s Development Fund

Washington, DC — The Aspen Institute recently announced , the second class of the New Voices Fellowship, a groundbreaking program designed to amplify the voices of experts from the developing world and bring their experiences to discussions of global development.

The 2014-2015 New Voices Fellowship fellows come from 12 countries across three continents: Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, Indonesia, India, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. These fellows will undertake a program of intensive media training and mentorship to help them reach a broader global audience through both traditional and new media and speaking engagements.

This year’s fellows include: advocates working in schools and through social media on sustainable, locally driven entrepreneurship; an outspoken leader for the rights of gay, lesbian, transgender and other sexual minorities across Africa; medical professionals advancing reproductive rights of women and girls, and combatting preventable and chronic diseases in countries from Haiti to Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania; business leaders creating mobile devices to improve health care in all settings; advocates for good governance and food security; and a defender of Indonesian coral reefs.

“Far too often, the leaders who are having the biggest impacts on the ground in the developing world are not those that are visible outside of their home countries. We want to change that to ensure that these leaders can speak for themselves to global media and ultimately international policymakers,” said Peggy Clark, executive director of Aspen Global Health and Development, and vice president of policy programs at the Aspen Institute. 

“The New Voices Fellowship is a vehicle to help share the most critical and impactful programs, solutions and innovations with other leaders around the world,” Clark added

Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the New Voices Fellowship was established in 2013 to bring the essential perspectives of committed development experts from Africa and other parts of the developing world into the global development debate.

“This year’s class of fellows is an impressive crowd that will match the incredible work we saw in the first class of New Voices,” said Andrew Quinn, director of the fellowship at Aspen. “What makes these leaders so inspiring is their proven track record of working on the ground to improve lives both individually and collectively. They are showing us the next big ideas in development.”

In addition to personal coaching on creating a dynamic platform to get their messages across, Fellows will receive introductions to select media outlets, serve as sources for journalists, and speak at high-profile conferences throughout the fellowship period. The group held its first workshop in Johannesburg in March, with another group meeting later in the year.

Application to the fellowship is by nomination only, and nominations will open in September 2014 for the next class. The 2015 New Voices fellows will be announced in early 2015.

The 2014 New Voices Fellows are: 

• Adebisi Alimi 

Founder, Bisi Alimi Consultancy, Nigeria, @bisialimi 

An LGBT advocate and HIV activist, Alimi was the first person to ever come out as gay on Nigerian television. Alimi fled to the UK after an attempt on his life in Nigeria. His development work focuses on promoting human rights for gay Africans and the prevention of HIV/AIDS. 

• James Kassaga Arinaitwe, MA, MPH 

School Partnerships Manager, Educate!, Uganda, @JamesArinaitwe 

Arinaitwe’s advocacy and development work is focused on encouraging economic growth by fostering development and partnering with secondary schools to teach entrepreneurship and leadership skills to the next generation of Ugandans. 

• Yetnayet Asfaw Demessie, MD, MPH 

Country Director, EngenderHealth, Ethiopia, @YetnayetAsfaw

As an advocate for education and the reproductive health rights of girls and women for nearly 20 years, Demessie works to encourage family planning, maternal and child health, and prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. 

• Nafi Chinery, MA 

Capacity Building Specialist, African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF), Ghana, @nafichinery

Chinery is passionate about promoting women’s rights in African countries and works with women-led organizations to train and advocate for their leadership and staff and their inclusion in decision making processes at different levels. 

• Anick Supplice Dupuy, MPH 

Deputy Director, PSI Haiti, Haiti, @asdupuy

Through her work with Population Services International (PSI), Dupuy focuses on promoting HIV/AIDS prevention, malaria, family planning and maternal and child health through social marketing and communication programs. 

• Utibe Effiong, MD 

MPH Candidate, University of Michigan, Nigeria, @UtibeEffiongMD

As an internist drawn to studying public health and epidemiology after seeing the impacts of Nigeria’s oil industry, Effiong is focused on both environmental drivers of health and chronic disease prevention, with a focus on diabetes as well as infectious diseases, which remain among the biggest health challenges in Africa. 

• Myshkin Ingawale, PhD 

Cofounder, Biosense Technologies, India, @myshkinonline

Myshkin is driven to design and build innovative, disruptive healthcare technologies that improve care around the world. For example, his company Biosense created ToucHb, a needle-free blood hemoglobin testing device, and uChek, a mobile phone app and accessory that converts the smartphone into a medical-grade lab machine equivalent. 

• Sisonke Msimang 

Writer, South Africa, @Sisonkemsimang

With a background in funding non-profit organizations fighting for democratic change in Africa, Msimang has become a powerful advocate for the better use of money and power on her continent. She also writes about sex. 

• Jacqueline Musiitwa, Esq. 

Founder, Managing Partner, Hoja Law Group, Uganda/Zambia, @nubiancounsel

Musiitwa’s background in the law and policy has led her to focus on achieving sustainable development by advocating for investment, trade, good governance and rule of law, all to improve Africa’s standing in the world. 

• Ramadhani Abdallah Noor, MD, PhD 

Research Associate, Harvard School of Public Health, Tanzania, @ranoortz

Noor was drawn to study public health and focus on vaccine development and dissemination after being overwhelmed by the number of patients he saw dying from preventable or treatable diseases and conditions. In addition to a focus on public health, he also advocates for food security and nutrition for maternal and child health in Africa. 

• Jensi Sartin 

Director, Reef Check Indonesia Foundation, Indonesia, @jensisartin

Sartin witnessed the deforestation of rainforests in Borneo during his childhood, and it set him on a path focused on conservation. His advocacy is focused on the health of coral reefs and community-based approaches to manage them in the face of development. 

• Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, PhD, MSc 

CEO, Head of Diplomatic Mission, Food Agriculture Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network, Zimbabwe, @lmsibanda

Sibanda’s work advocating for food and nutritional security covers 17 African countries and promotes sustainable agricultural development through innovation and entrepreneurship in agriculture. 

• Evans Wadongo 

Founder, Executive Director, Sustainable Development For All, Kenya, @evanswadongo

Wadongo has been a leader by bringing both energy and economic development to rural communities in Kenya and Africa. He started with an initiative to use solar power to reduce the cycle of poverty for poor communities and is now advising young entrepreneurs and leaders on growing relevant innovations that tackle socio-economic problems for developing countries. 

For more about the New Voices Fellowship and further information about this year’s fellows, please visit www.aspennewvoices.org or email [email protected].